Minipac resets on reboot

[Doc Thirst]

Hey everyone, it's been a while but I have an issue that is driving me nuts.

I recently replaced my cab computer.  Everything moved over fine except my minipac.  When I reboot the computer the minipac resets as well.  In fact, the control panel does nothing until I start up Winipac (software to program the minipac) and use the program button to flash the minipac, after which it works fine.  That is, until I reboot again.  This is driving me nuts, but I know there is an easy fix, hell it worked fine on my old PC.  I'm connected via USB 1.0 running on Win XP.  Let me know if you have any insight.

[loadman]

Hey everyone, it's been a while but I have an issue that is driving me nuts.

I recently replaced my cab computer.  Everything moved over fine except my minipac.  When I reboot the computer the minipac resets as well.  In fact, the control panel does nothing until I start up Winipac (software to program the minipac) and use the program button to flash the minipac, after which it works fine.  That is, until I reboot again.  This is driving me nuts, but I know there is an easy fix, hell it worked fine on my old PC.  I'm connected via USB 1.0 running on Win XP.  Let me know if you have any insight.

Does the  Memory the MiniPac  hold settings when you de-power it??? I know the I-pac VE does not.

If that is the case my best guess is that your old PC had power to the USB ports set to on (like I do) when the PC is in standby , but this new PC does not have that setting on.

Depending on the PC this setting can be switched  in BIOS or a jumper on the motherboard

[Turnarcades]

Yeah that sounds exactly what the problem is.

If you check the Ultimac website, it says that the USB version is non-programmable, though the PS/2 version is. The PS/2 version will hold any flashed settings correctly, whilst the USB version will lose them the moment power is cut. This is the main reason why I opted for the PS/2 version - besides the lack of USB ports I had available, I preferred my own keyboard/control panel layout for my emulators, as some emulators do not let you use some of the buttons that are defaulted in MAME.

If your PC does not support a constant power supply to the USB port, you will either have to put up with it resetting (which will happen if you unplug it too) or sell up and get the PS/2 version, which in my opinion is way better, and shouldn't be a problem for anyone's PC. After all, it's just a 'plug-through' section of a keyboard, so is detected in the same way as a regular PS/2 device.

[jcrouse]

I think you guys are way off here or are misinterperating something. I did not look at the verbage on the Ultimarc website but am sure the interface, USB or PS2, has nothing to do with the settings being retained. It's simply an interface. Once the data is written to the chip what bearing should the interface have as to wether the data is retained or not? I have 3 mini Ipacs and all three of the and USB and never loose their settings. I know in the past there were some issues with this and I believe, not positive, it was a bad board and Andy from Ultimarc remedied the issues for the users.

John

[Ayrk]

I had that problem. The minipac would only work when I ran the config software.

Turns out the issue is a registry one. Basically you need to remove the references in the registry so that the drivers can be restored.

I found all of the details to this on the Ultimarc site. I tried to find the exact page but I couldn't. Somewhere on his site is a page with troubleshooting tips and he tells you exactly what registry keys to remove.

I followed those instructions and it fixed my problem.

[jcrouse]

Now that you mention that, and trigger my aging memory, that is exactly what I did also. Thanks to Andy pointing me in the right direction and it completely solved my issue also and since everything is working great.

John

PS.....HEre is the sniplet from the Ultimarc wevbsite:

Problem: (USB Only) Board appears not to work until WinIPAC is run every time. Yellow exclamation marks in Control Panel, Device Manager.
This is a rare problem, and is caused by a registry error. It is suspected that this problem occurs if the board is regularly swapped from one USB port to another, or different board versions used on the same PC. Microsoft have been alerted to this problem. To fix this problem, download this file: Ipacfix and click on it. This deletes all references to the I-PAC in the registry. Then unplug and reconnect the board. If you would rather do this manually here is what to do:
The fix involves registry editing, the usual caution should be observed.
Run regedit, and open Hkey_Local_Machine/System/CurrentControlSet/Enum/HID and delete the keys containing VID D209 Also Hkey_Local_Machine/System/CurrentControlSet/Enum/USB and delete the same keys. You might have to right-click and set permissions to do this. Unplug and re-connect the board.

[loadman]

I think you guys are way off here or are misinterperating something

misinterpret?      Mine was put as a 'Question'
My further suggestion was only valid if the question were true. 

[jcrouse]

I think you guys are way off here or are misinterperating something

misinterpret?      Mine was put as a 'Question'
My further suggestion was only valid if the question were true. 

Loadman ..... I was referencing the individual that made the statement about PS2/USB and the saving of settings. I could be wrong but it doesn't sound logical to me and is not the way my USB minIpac works. I WILL be more specific next time.

John

[loadman]

Sorry I was having a bad day 

[jcrouse]

Sorry I was having a bad day 

NP ... made me laugh.

John

[Doc Thirst]

Thanks guys, I'll check this out.

My minipac has ps2 connections but the line connecting it to the pc is ps2 on one end and USB on the other.  I'll check out the reg solution first, and then swap out to a ps2 > ps2 connection if that doesn't work.  Sorry for the late reply, holidays and all have kept me busy.

[mrbones]

I was doing a search and found this thread. My minipac is doing the same thing on Windows 2000. I tried the registry fix a few times and it didn't help at all. Every time I reboot my PC, the minipac stops working. The trackball still works, but not the keyboard (joysticks and buttons) function of it. I have to load the winipac software and hit 'program' to get it to work. I just got this thing 2 weeks ago.

It does this every time, even with a warm reboot.

Is there a fix for this?

[mrbones]

lol, gotta love it when you fix your own problems. This is what worked for me. I ran the registry fix, then unplugged the minipac. I then plugged it back into a DIFFERENT usb port. Now it works when I reboot. I even unplugged the PC from the wall for 10 seconds. Hope this helps someone out there. Over and out!

[mrbones]

Well, the problem is back. My PC was off for a couple of hours and now I'm back to where I started. Anyone have any ideas how to fix this?

[headkaze]

Have you had a look in the Device Manager and selected View->Show Hidden devices.

After you've checked 'show hidden devices' scroll down to usb controllers and right click on each of them (usb controllers) and click 'properties' until you find your ipac. Then click on the 'driver' tab and click 'uninstall'. Then exit back to windows. PLUG IN YOUR IPAC TO THE USB PORT WHICH YOU INTEND TO HAVE IT PLUGGED INTO IN YOUR CAB & LEAVE IT CONNECTED TO THAT PORT (DONT SWAP USB PORTS). Try firing up WinIPAC and try to program it the the MAME default key assignment. Hopefully, it should work. This is basically what other people have suggested earlier. I've had loads of trouble with my ipac but found out it's a windows/usb issue. Let us know how you get on.

[Ayrk]

I had to do the manual removal of the registry entries. The registry fix program didn't work for me.

Once I removed the entries all was fine with the world and the minipac.

[jcrouse]

I had to do the manual removal of the registry entries. The registry fix program didn't work for me.

Once I removed the entries all was fine with the world and the minipac.

Exactly the same for me.

John

[mrbones]

That fixed it. I searched the registry for "vid_d209" and removed any reference to it. I had to use regedt32 instead of regedit so I could change the permissions of each key. Otherwise I couldn't delete it. What a PIA!!

Anyway. It's done and now I can move on. Thanks for the help.

[mrbones]

Ok, its doing it again. All I did was program a new key with winipac and now every time I reboot, it has to be programmed or its not recognized. I didn't touch the USB cord. I've tried to keep a level head with this but now I'm getting upset. If I have to do this registry cleanup every time I program a new key, I'll curse this thing and not recommend it to anyone.

[Ayrk]

Ok, its doing it again. All I did was program a new key with winipac and now every time I reboot, it has to be programmed or its not recognized. I didn't touch the USB cord. I've tried to keep a level head with this but now I'm getting upset. If I have to do this registry cleanup every time I program a new key, I'll curse this thing and not recommend it to anyone.

At this stage, I'd recommend talking to Andy. His support has always been top notch as far as I'm concerned.

[Organic Jerk]

I had this problem as well and it totally disappeared when I used the PS/2  cable to connect to the interface.   I know mostly everyone here agrees on the registry fix, but that didn't do anything for me either.  Before contacting Andy it doesn't hurt to just try everything out on PS/2 and see what happens. ( I should state that I don't use a Minipac, but an ipac4)


I mean if you ultimately HAVE to be on USB then theres no point, but if you have a KB PS/2 port just sitting there it doesnt hurt to try it out it here.

[mrbones]

This thing should just work out-of-the-box. But, it doesn't. Unfortunately, I have to use USB because I'm using the trackball function part of it at the same time. Better software needs to be written for this thing instead of blaming Microsoft as I've read in other posts. Oh well, I guess. Live and learn, buyer beware, etc., etc.

[Organic Jerk]

Ouch... yeah. 

Yeah contacting Andy would be your best bet.

Good Luck and keep us posted..

[SodaPopinksi]

If I have to do this registry cleanup every time I program a new key, I'll curse this thing and not recommend it to anyone.

That is how mine is working now.

Something that tripped me up with the registry fix from another post is a part at the end that said it's a good idea to "program the default keyset" after reinstall, which made the problem re-occur for me since I wanted to program a custom keyset.

The Minipac itself should remember whatever keyset it was last programmed to. The problem for me at least, is that windows will not identify any new custom keysets even after I reinstall, set to default, and then reprogram the custom one. Basically, if I change any of the keys through WinIpac after a successful re-install, windows will then not recognize the Minipac when I reboot.

So what I had to do for my custom keyset, was reinstall after registry fix, program the keyset I wanted through WinIpac, then uninstall again with the registry fix, then re-install, since now Windows will see and remember the current custom keyset the Minipac is programmed to.

I kept doing the registry fix, then resetting the Minipac to default... if I wanted the default keyset this would have worked --if I did nothing more... but then I always re-programmed my keys to how I wanted them and  thenWindows wouldn't fully recognize the Minipac at reboot.

This is fine for me, since I want to stick with just one custom keyset, but if you want to switch between more than one that would require a registry fix each time. That is, for people having this same problem.

[northerngames]

well I just installed mine and same thing obviosly another sucky flaw with these I had a ipac-2 before and wish I stuck with them instead of this I even got the wire harness and choose the mini-pac becuase of the wire harness to lessen the wiring hassle but I ended up having to cut 1/3 of the wire's and extend them and it took around the same to wire manually with the ipac-2 so hopefuly I can get this one going so I can power on/off and not set the key's everytime ond once I get that set it is staying that way and I will be going back to the I-pac's after this for now on plus there built alot better then these mini pack's there kinda thinn and fragile when comapred to a heavy duty I-pac

[mrbones]

Yeah, I wish I bought something else, too. The Minipac is lame. I still have to program mine at every boot up. Its a POS.